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U.S. Renditions
U.S. Renditions was a Special Projects Division of Books Nippan (which was the American branch of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai) and one of the pioneers of anime home video distribution in North America. The division was originally founded in February 1987 by Kevin Seymour, David Keith Riddick, Sho Nagata and Satoshi Komatsu. Robert Napton later joined the division and became a key figure in its productions. After producing two music projects for the Robotech television series, U.S. Renditions produced the very first subtitled direct-to-home anime video for the American anime market. In March 1990, they began a release of a subtitled version of Gunbuster, followed in the same month by Dangaioh. They also released such subtitled hits as Appleseed and Black Magic M-66, and even began dubbing anime in 1992, the year their release of Dangaioh was completed. Their first dubbing projects included Macross II, Giant Robo and Fight! Iczer-One. These video projects were a joint venture with L.A. Hero, which was headed by Ken Iyadomi. U.S. Renditions also worked with U.S. Manga Corps on a select number of titles. The company also had a division called Dark Image Entertainment, which was geared for mature audiences. Titles under Dark Image Entertainment included Ambassador Magma, Devilman and Guyver: Out of Control. U.S. Renditions had a deal with Manga Entertainment's UK Division to distribute selected anime titles and have them dubbed in-house, before Island Records established Manga's North American operations. When Books Nippan ceased operations in the mid-1990s, U.S. Renditions was dissolved. Kevin Seymour went on to become a successful anime English voice director. Robert Napton became the director of Bandai U.S.A.'s manga division. Ken Iyadomi went on to produce/co-produce domestic releases by Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment. Although some of their releases have seen re-release through Bandai Visual USA (which subsequently merged with Bandai Entertainment), Manga Entertainment and Media Blasters, other titles such as the original uncut subtitled version of Dangaioh, Ambassador Magma and Guyver: Out of Control were never re-released and have remained out of print on home video. List of titles released U.S. Renditions All titles re-released by Manga Entertainment except where indicated. *''Appleseed'' - Dubbed by Manga Entertainment UK *''Black Magic M-66'' - Dubbed by Manga Entertainment UK *''Giant Robo'' - Re-released on VHS by Manga Entertainment and on DVD (with an all-new dub) by Media Blasters. *''Bio Booster Armor Guyver'' *''Dangaioh'' - Dubbed by Manga Entertainment UK *''Gunbuster'' - Re-released on VHS by Manga Entertainment and on DVD by Bandai Visual USA. *''Macross II'' *''The Super Dimension Century Orguss'' - Re-released on DVD by ImaginAsian. U.S. Renditions (music) *''Robotech: BGM Collection, Vol.1'' - The only Robotech soundtrack released on LP. *''Robotech: Perfect Collection'' - The first digital release of a Robotech soundtrack. Dark Image Entertainment All titles rendered out of print following U.S. Renditions' demise except where indicated. *''Ambassador Magma'' *''Devilman'' - Dubbed by Manga Entertainment UK *''Guyver: Out of Control'' *''Outlanders'' *''Raven Tengu Kabuto'' - Dubbed by Manga Entertainment UK References * Akemi's Anime World: U.S. Renditions/Dark Image Entertainment Company Info Category:Anime companies Category:Companies established in 1987